Unfortunately there is not a single
depiction of the poet France Prešeren that we can be certain
was created during his lifetime. From the testimonies
of his relatives and some of his other contemporaries,
we can establish that the poet avoided having his portrait
done. His friend Franc Potočnik tried in vain to use the
last opportunity during the night of February 8th for
the real image of Prešeren's face to be preserved, by
writing a letter to painter Matevž Langus, begging him
to travel to Kranj forthwith and paint the poor poet on
the catafalque. Sadly Langus, who was renowned in Ljubljana
as the best Slovene painter, did not grant Potočnik's
request. The widely lamented fact that Slovenes did not
have a single portrait of their most prominent poet created
during his lifetime was probably the main reason why,
in 1850, the Ljubljana painter Franz Kurz Goldenstein
attempted to paint Prešeren's portrait without actually
being commissioned. Even though the artist painted the
face of his friend according to memory a year after the
poet's death and four years after they had last met, the
painting is of exceptional value to Slovenes, as it is
the only known painting which throws light on what Prešeren's
real physical appearance was. Over the next one hundred
and fifty years, many painters and sculptors attempted
to capture the poet's image in artistic form. At first,
they depicted him according to memory or according to
testimonies, even using photographs of his relatives.
Later, when all Prešeren's contemporaries were dead, the
poet was depicted in an imaginary way, based on the artists'
interpretation of Prešeren's poetry. The great variety
of the depictions now in existence represents a fascinating
insight into the historical development of our perception
of Prešeren's poetic person.

Sadly, Goldenstein's painting of France Prešeren, bought
by Franc Potočnik soon after it was completed, and from
1851 to around 1869 entrusted to the care of Janez Bleiweis,
did not really become known to the wider Slovene public
until 1900, when the then owner of the portrait, Franc
Levec, published it for the first time in a Prešeren album,
with Potočnik's letter added, proving its authenticity.
In particular, when Bleiweis was taking care of it, it
was accessible to only a few chosen viewers. Among them
was the sculptor Franc Ksaver Zajec, who made the first
bust of Prešeren. Zajec was then a well-known and tested
portraitist, but he had not known the poet personally.
The larger than life bust in plaster was created for one
of the live backgrounds at a staging of Krst pri Savici
(Baptism at the Savica) at the Ljubljana provincial theatre
on 2nd December 1865.

The publisher Otto Wagner and editor Fran Levstik looked
for a painting of Prešeren in vain, when in 1866 they
were preparing the first posthumous edition of Prešeren's
Poems for Klasje. An unknown amateur painter produced
a portrait with the help of a photograph of Prešeren's
sister Katra and oral descriptions from acquaintances
of the poet, and partly modelled on the cousin Anton Svetina.
This portrait, known as Wagner's, served as a model for
many later painters and this was the image Slovenes had
of Prešeren right up till 1900, when Levec published Goldenstein's
portrait.

Among the later portraits from the 19th century, it is
worth mentioning at least the full length statuettes of
the poet, which were serially produced in late 1870 by
Franc Ksaver Zajec; the portraits created by Franc Pustavrh
(before 1876), Josef MukaŢovski, Ignac Figner (1879),
Tomaž HrnciŢ (1891) and in particular, Prešeren's bust
in Carrara marble by the sculptor Alojzij Gangl (1895).

The number of Prešeren's portraits grew particularly at
the end of the 19th century, when Slovenes were preparing
for the celebration of the centenary of the poet's birth.
His image started appearing on national greetings cards
and, from 1896 onwards also on postcards. An important
incentive for sculptors was also the proposals for a central
monument to the poet in Ljubljana. The call for submissions
was answered by six reputable sculptors, and the draft
sculpture created by Ivan Zajec won the award. The monument
was unveiled on 10th September 1905. Since 1900, the painters
Ivan Grohar and Ivan Vavpotič, the sculptor Alojzij Repič
as well as some unknown artists have created portraits
of Prešeren which are worthy of mention; they can be found
in the Town Hall in Ljubljana, the Study Library in Novo
mesto, the Kaprol Inn in Sodražica, and elsewhere. These
were followed by the depictions created by Alojzij Šubic
(1902), Saša Šantl (1905), Maksim Gaspari (1905, 1907),
Anton Čeh (1908), Anton Sever (1909), Anton Koželj (1912),
Lojze Dolinar (1914) and others. In the period between
the two World Wars, Prešeren iconography was added to
by Maksim Gaspari, Božidar Jakac, Hinko Smrekar, Elko
Justin, Ivan Vavpotič, Ivan Čargo, Nikolaj Pirnat, France
Gorše, Viktor Cotič, Ksenija Prunkova, Rajko Šubic, Stane
Dremelj, and others. During this period, artists were
encouraged particularly by France Kidrič, who in 1935
prepared an extensive book on Prešeren, as well as a Prešeren
album, and Miha Maleš, who was in 1940 the initiator of
the illustrated edition of Prešeren's poems.

A complete list of all the artists who have in the last
one hundred and fifty years in one way or another depicted
our greatest poet France Prešeren will probably not be
drawn up for quite some time. But the fact that Prešeren's
poetic person remains mysteriously challenging and constantly
invites new portraits from new generations of Slovene
artists is very encouraging.